ICT: A New Form of Literacy

ICT and the Re-shaping of Literacy. A Secondary Classroom Perspective


Nettleback, David. ICT and the Re-shaping of Literacy. A Secondary Classroom Perspective. Literacy Learning: the Middle Years/ English in Australia. [2004] pp. 68-77.


Although published in 2004, this article provides excellent examples of how to effectively integrate ICT into the everyday English classroom. It suggests that ICT must be used carefully, with clear objects in order to be use for beneficial learning in the classroom. The notion of "new literacies"(Nettleback, p68) including media, information and computer literacies are highly relevant to students today and is something that we need to keep in mind when planning units and contemplating ICT integration.

The practical examples are excellent in this article but the author does make some large assumptions about teachers and their inability to use ICT. He suggests that ICT is a "foreign world that they must learn to cope with" (Nettleback, p69). Whist this is the case for some, I would suggest that this is an over exaggeration and something that will change in the near future. Another gross generalization is "that the new information and computer technologies are simply the social and educational context in which we now find ourselves. "(Nettleback, p68) Although it is a large context in the world today, there are many others that must be stated in order to give a more rounded view of a child's education experience, for example change in family structure and workforce demands.

Nettleback suggests that the teacher is the most important person in ICT integration. He highlights the "centrality of the teacher's role in providing for engaged and effective learning with and through information and computer technology"(Nettleback, p69). This made me consider the teacher as the 'right tool for the job'. That it is the teacher that has the greatest influence as to whether ICT is successfully used in the classroom. This is something I hope to explore further in my research report.